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Young Lawyers Section's D&I Focus

Committee will highlight and bring awareness to diversity and inclusion in community
By Celeste Ariela Borjas



CBA Community,

My name is Celeste Ariela Borjas and I have the privilege of authoring the inaugural YLS D&I blog post. We at the YLS D&I Committee are excited to highlight and bring awareness to diversity and inclusion in our community through the lens of young attorneys.

From September 15 through October 15, the United States celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month. This year’s annual proclamation by the President called on us to “recognize that Hispanic heritage is American heritage” and to “honor and celebrate the contributions of Hispanics to our Nation.” As an attorney at the U.S. Department of Transportation, I’ve chosen to celebrate Cesar Pelli’s contributions to our transportation networks.

One of America’s premier architectural geniuses, Pelli passed away in 2019 at the age of 92. He was born in Argentina and came to the United States in his mid-twenties to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Illinois. Then he joined the team led by the architect who would become his mentor, Eero Saarinen. As a project designer on Saarinen’s team, Pelli worked on his first iconic airport structure, the TWA Terminal at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

After returning to Argentina to teach at his alma mater, Pelli settled permanently in the United States with his wife and became a citizen in 1964. He opened his own architecture firm and later became dean of the Yale School of Architecture. His success stemmed from his ability to adapt modern principles to reflect the purpose and geographic context of his projects. In an interview, Pelli explained that “the more we uniform anything, the more we lose vitality . . . I’m very careful not to do that.” This principle is on full display in Pelli’s transportation portfolio.

If you’ve traveled through Washington D.C., you may be familiar with the architect’s design for the B/C Terminal at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. According to Pelli, he intended his design “to establish a connection with the civic architecture of Washington, DC.” Today, passengers can see his creative combination of steel and glass with domes that reflect iconic Washington buildings, such as the Library of Congress and the Jefferson Memorial.

Less well known, but one of my favorites, is Pelli’s design for the Winnipeg International Airport in Manitoba, Canada, which the architect likewise described as linked to its setting, “inviting visitors to experience the landscape and skies of Manitoba. Pelli’s transportation work also included two dramatic development projects for urban rail centers, the Salesforce Transit Center in San Francisco and the South Station Tower in Boston, which is only now taking form (see below). While he is also well known for his designs of towering skyscrapers, his transportation architecture is some of his best and most accessible work and exemplifies the multifaceted character of our national heritage.

While Hispanic Heritage month officially ends October 15, I encourage you all to celebrate and honor the contributions of Hispanics to our Nation and to our local Cincinnati community year-round. 


Additional Reading
P&G Kicks Off Hispanic Heritage Month With Comprehensive Initiative to Accelerate the Progress of U.S. Hispanic Communities
Cleveland Municipal Court interpreters help people be linguistically present: Hispanic Heritage Month
Farm workers to receive Hispanic Heritage Award for their 'heroic' service amid coronavirus
American Writers Museum "My America" blog posts
Cincinnati: A City of Immigrants. Hispanics: 1980’s - 2030
Cincinnati Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Facebook: Cincinnati Hispanic Heritage Month
Apoyo Latino: The Greater Cincinnati Latino Coalition

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